First trip to Negril - Travel Report - Day 3: Part 2

[Clarity]

So it's officially one month since we've returned from Negril and we're only on Day 3 of trip report.

Rob built an entirely NEW FORUM in that time span! (that's how slow we are) For anyone that's still reading... thanks for your patience. We ARE going to finish this before the world ends.

We transferred over Day 1 and Day 2 of our trip over to the blog section. You can now find it here http://negril.com/forum/blog.php?127-Clarity


Day 3 part 2
Negril : 1:30 PM


When we last left off, we had just finished our snorkeling adventure with Captain Sparrow and Shamma-lamma-ding-dong.

We stepped off the swaying glass bottom boat still soaking wet and clutching our snorkel gear. I felt unsteady on my feet as we stumbled back to our hotel room at the Grand Pineapple to shower and change.



After washing all the salt water off our bodies and getting into dry clothes again we headed over to the buffet for lunch.



I chose the Curry chicken and cheese/tuna macaroni. It was delicious. I scarfed it down and went for seconds... After pushing my body to the limit out in the middle of the ocean, I was famished.

The girls we had met yesterday from Long Island came to our table

“Hey, We're going to The Jungle tonight, you guys should come!”, One of the girls said “It's Thursday night - LADIES NIGHT, girls get in free!”

It sounded like a fun idea, but we decided to just play it by ear. We had partied until 3 AM the night before. I was already sipping my first Dirty Banana for the day and couldn't predict how I'd be feeling after consuming 10 more.

We were also getting ready to embark on our next mission for the day.

Finding Cheap Charlie.

We had met him on the beach yesterday and he had given Markus a pack of Marlboro lights on credit. I wanted to make sure we found him and paid him back. It's a seven mile stretch of beach. Who knew where he was or how long it was going to take to find him?

We decided to start by asking Ralston, our favorite security guard.

“Sure I've seen him around. There are a lot of vendors selling cigarettes though. I'm sure you'll run into him somewhere on the stretch” He said “Good luck!”. He found our determination amusing. Apparently credit transactions are common and people don't have a hard time finding each other again. I found that hard to believe.

We stood on the beach and scanned the horizon on both sides. The distance seemed equal. It's amazing to be on a caribbean vacation like this. The only important decision we had to make was regarding which direction to walk on the beautiful stretch of pristine beach. Right or left? This was a new experience for me.

We decided to go left again.

The first person we bumped into was the same person we had run into on our first walk.

The young fruit vendor. He gazed at us with wide eyes again and held out a bag of pineapples and a mango. “Hi again! Would you like to buy fresh fruit TODAY?”

Last time we didn't have money and had to refuse his offer. I remember his sad expression and how he slowly walked away defeated.

“Hi Again. Okay, How much?” I asked this time.

“300 JA for this bag of Pineapples”, He said.

Hmmm.. He saw my hesitation and quickly upped the offer.

“...AND this mango” he held out the perfect fruit for me to examine.”It's Ripe and sweet. Please?”

I held the mango in my hand. “This looks yummy but I don't have anything to cut it open with and..”

He pulled a butcher knife of a black plastic bag. I backed away slightly. Whoah!

“I'll cut if for you and put it in a bag for you to eat on the beach”

“wow.. okay,thank you!”

He laid the bag on the sand, I handed him the mango and he cut off the skin with expert precision. He slid the juicy fruit in one big piece into a plastic bag and handed it to me. It happened so fast, I couldn't even capture the moment on film.



The fruit lady came by with a basket of fruits on her head just as he was handing me my mango. “Froooot??”, she asked me.

“No thank you. I'm good for now”, I said accepting my fruits from the young vendor who was now smiling and in a very good mood.

“The early bird gets the worm!” he said with a huge grin “You too late now!”

The fruit lady shrugged and continued on...

and so did the young vendor. He had just sold the last of his fruits and said he was heading home for the day now.

I bit into the mango as we strolled down the beach. The sugary juice spilled down my chin and I licked it off my fingers. It was ripe, rich and truly delicious! We ate it together. Markus even sucked the juice out of the bag. Absolutely heavenly! I realized that by only eating the pre-cut, dried out and packaged mangos from “Safeway”.. I had REALLY been missing out.

We had just finished the mango and started munching on the fresh pineapple pieces when I saw the Vendor stands. I already learned that the only way you can pass this part of the beach without stopping is to STARE STRAIGHT AHEAD...

“Don't look. They'll suck you in. Look at me”, Markus warned with a smile.

I laughed. “I wont look. I wont look” I decided to focus intently on bloody bay in the distance.

But I slipped up though and glanced slightly to the right because the T-shirt stand caught my eye. My friend had asked me to bring him back a Bob Marley shirt..

I tried to avert my eyes away but it was too late. They saw my fleeting interest and swooped in.

“Come look at my jewelry!”, A vendor lady said approaching me

“No thank you” I said with a smile

“Just to look. It doesn't cost you anything to look. You don't have to buy. Just come look at my work. Just a look. Just a minute of your time...out of respect for me and my craft”

1000 JA later, I had Jamaican beaded bracelets for all my co-workers.

I was chatting with all the women vendors that were surrounding me when I realized that I had lost Markus somewhere along the way. He was no longer beside me.

I heard a shout from the shore “HEY BOSS LADY!”

Boss lady?

I turned around and saw Markus laughing with Cheap Charlie 100 yards away.

Markus actually found Cheap Charlie! Negril IS a small town!

I bid farewell to all the vendors and joined them on the shore.



“Hey Boss Lady!”, Charlie said. He extending his fist for a bump “That's your new name on the Island. Markus says you the one in charge”

I laughed. “Is that so?”

“How many new packs can he buy today?”, Charlie asked with a smile

I raised 2 fingers.

“Okay Boss Lady”, He said. “Respect!”

For the rest of the trip, Markus was calling me Boss Lady.